The Legacy of the Phantom Thief
by Nechangi
Summary: Kaito found Pandora. They found KID. And to save everyone he loved he gave them the jewel. Kaito was murdered and Shinichi was forced to stay alive, alive to carry the Legacy of the Phantom Thief, and alive to continue living. KaiShin/ShinKai, RanShin. Chapter Six; Drama, Sci-fi, Humour
1. The Recordings of a Magician

A/N; A stray plotbunny that made its way to me, and that might get a brother. The Legacy of the Phantom Thief is a story in six pieces depicting the life of an idea; the idea of Kaitou KID.

Warnings;  
Strange english, OOCness, Character Death

Chapter Genre; Romance, Hurt/Comfort, Angst  
Uploaded; 2012-11-28  
Chapter rating: T  
Words: 3,400

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**The Legacy of the Phantom Thief  
**

* * *

**Chap. 1  
The Recordings of a Magician**

The detective, holding into his white phone, placed the earpieces in his ears and then pressed play for the first time that day, knowing what it said, word for word, and knowing that he had safe files of the recordings on his computer, on two memory sticks and one safe in his mail on the internet, just in case everything went wrong, not counting the original tapes hidden at home.

"Hi, Shinichi," a happy voice entered his ears and he smiled a sad smile as he looked out through the bus' window, not really seeing the passing world, "long time no see! I know that it's horrible of me to do things this way, but I thought that something was better than nothing. I know that you don't know me very well; I haven't even told you my name, so maybe I should start by introducing myself." There was a slight pause in the recording.

"The name's Kuroba Kaito! Magician extraordinaire!" Kaito's voice said with a joyous laugh, but then grew serious, "I know that when you hear this, if you hear this, you will know me, probably better than I know myself. I don't really know what to say on this, so I decided to fill it with talk, anything between heaven and earth, because I don't want it to be; Hi, I love you, click, and then it's over. Kaitou KID left a mark on the world. Kuroba Kaito did not, so this is what is going to be left; recordings of me talking. Not really as impressive as my father's Kaitou KID, but it might be of some consolation to you, Shinichi, my love, the beacon of light in my life. The funny thing is that you'll be able to hear my voice from beyond the grave, and you can destroy the tapes if you'd like, if they are too painful, but Kaitou KID will always be alive. No one might be stealing in his name, but the Gentleman Thief is not a person, he's just an idea, and ideas don't die... Did you get the V for Vendetta reference? If you didn't, then see the movie; it's great!"

Shinichi had been too confused to understand where the thief was going with the conversations the first time he heard the first recording, but when the magician began talking about death and leaving a lasing print on the earth he'd immediately checked up on him, but found out that he'd been killed the night before, murdered by a man that was nowadays in prison. Shinichi had been devastated, and hidden at his home, understanding that he magician must've sent the tapes by mail the night of his murder, as a last goodbye. He hadn't been able to hear all the tapes the first time; they'd been too painful, and he'd been too angry with the thief. He'd even held a hammer in his hand, lifted over his head, ready to destroy them, but he hadn't been able to, so in the end he just cried and listened to the magician's voice; soothing, happy, calm and excited as he told the detective about things that had happened.

There was a small cut in the recording as the thief stopped the tape and then began again.  
"The First of February," the thief stated solemnly, and began his recordings in a diary-like way, "Aoko asked me out today, she even confessed her feelings, but I told her that I was gay and already had a boyfriend. She was confused. First it looked like she was going to cry, but I guess that she'd rather be rejected because of a guy than another girl. She smiled and asked about you. I could see that it hurt, but I guess that it didn't hurt too much… I told her about your blue eyes, so lovely that I could just drown in them. That smile you have, which could warm even the coldest of hearts," the magician sighed happily while his voice grew warm, "your intelligence that sees though every trick I try to pull, your sharpness that you use to peel off my masks and ask; 'what's wrong?' even though I can't tell you. How could I? Shinichi, I'm going to die, because of Pandora; I know that they will kill me, and if they fail you'll never hear this, but that's highly unlikely. You'd tell me to stop. You'd force me to stop, but they know who I am now, and they will come after me, you, mom, Aoko, my classmates and even Hakuba if I don't go. But there's still quite a while left for me to make these recordings. I love you, and I'm sorry, but I have to."

Shinichi felt a tear roll down his cheeks and he caressed the blue and white bouquet of roses in his hands and watched the single thornless red rose in the middle. It didn't matter how many times he heard the recordings; he still cried, even though they eased the pain of feeling completely alone. Someone sat down beside him and he sent the woman a glance, hearing her disrupt his peaceful recordings while she happily chatted with her two friends who seated themselves on the seats in front of him. He raised the volume a little, enough for him to hear Kaito clearly, but low enough not to let anyone know what he was listening to.

"The Second of February. You know Aoko -the traitor- told Hakuba that I'm dating a guy and he's curious. He tried to follow me after school, but I managed to lure him into an ''adult's'' store. You should have seen his face when he realised where he was! Oh, and all the things in there made me think of you. You just wait, I'm coming to get you now!" Kaito laughed heartedly, making Shinichi smile, but when he stopped there was silence for a second. "We had meatballs today, and that made me think that I should make snowballs, but I've got a better idea now!" In the moment of silence between the second and third of February he managed to pick up a single name from the conversation the girls were having; his own name.

"The Third of February." Kaito said and Shinichi paused the tape to eavesdrop, wondering if his light disguise had been seen though.  
"Yea, I heard he solved a case the other week and ever got asked to consult in a movie from the victim's brother. Can you imagine if he becomes an actor like his mother! I bet that he's great at acting!" the dark-haired girl in front said with a smile while Shinichi held back an irritated frown, knowing that he was the worst actor the world had ever set its eyes upon, but he was training, getting better and better every day.  
"You know," the girl beside him said with a smug smile, "Kudou-sama will be visiting us the next week, to consult on my brother's case."  
"No way!" the other two girls chorused, "you have to invite us too!"  
"And I've heard that he's still single," the first girl winked a bit flirtatious towards her friends and Shinichi felt his eye twitch, knowing that he'd promised a man named Yamagura to come and look into his son's accident, alleged murder attempt. Even though the women were irritating him he was happy that combing his hair down into his face, wearing black lipstick, equally dark eyeliner, baggy pants and a dark hoodie was enabling him to move around without detection even though he'd rather dress normally when he visited Kaito.

Shinichi pressed play again and listened to the magician's voice telling him how he filled the lockers in the girls' locker room with snow during the early morning and placed homemade colouring balls inside the shower heads, making the water turn to the colours of the rainbow, which would turn the girls' skin in different colours. Kaito had been chased through the entire school and ended up in an ambush, after which he was dragged outside and drenched in the snow. In the background of the voice Shinichi could hear a slight echo and splashing of water, letting him know that Kaito was taking a warm bath while doing the recording.

When his stop came up he made his way to the doors, seeing Aoko stand behind Hakuba as he paid for a ticket, back into the central of Tokyo. Shinichi got off, knowing exactly when Hakuba and Aoko visited the thief, since the blonde was a bit special when it came to the time, and sometimes Shinichi would go there before them and other times he would go after them.

"What a weird guy," a shorthaired woman muttered when Saguru sat down in front of them.  
"Yea, but the flowers must mean something special, why else would you put a single red rose in a bouquet of blue and white ones?" The detective tensed from the statement and quickly got off the bus before it had even started, hearing Aoko call his name as she followed him.

The detective hid behind a tree, seeing the dark-clothed person with a hood kneel by the grave as he placed the flowers in an empty vase.  
"Saguru?" Aoko whispered, seeing his serious face and hard gaze.  
"It's him," he stated and nodded towards the grave while she followed his gaze, watching the stranger sit on the grass.  
"That's Kaito's mystery boyfriend?" she mumbled sadly and watched how the stranger's shoulders shook as he cried.  
"Yes, a girl on the bus said that someone had that special kind of bouquet that he always leaves, so it has to be him."  
"Saguru," Aoko pleaded, knowing how he could become when he smelled a mystery, "this isn't the time nor the place."  
"I know, but I want to know who he is… I saw him during the funeral, when he stood far away, staring at the coffin. He wore a hat and sunglasses, so I don't know who he was, but once we left he walked up to the hole and threw down a white and blue rose, bound together. I want to know if he knows who murdered Kuroba. He's the only clue I've got, and as distasteful as it is to observe him at Kuroba's grave; I have to find his murderer. Don't you want that?" Aoko twitched at his question, wanting to start crying. She found out who Kaitou KID was after Kaito died. She also knew why he did it, but she never got to tell her friend that he wasn't alone, that she understood, that her father would've understood if he told them, and that Saguru could help, but once she found out, it was all too late.

Shinichi got up from the grass and turned off the recording, listening to his own unsteady breathing.  
"Hello, love. I know that I promised you not to cry in front of you, but I miss you so much," he mumbled, carefully brushing away the tears. "I miss you, and I'm so lonely, but I don't want to move on even if that's what you're telling me multiple times on the tapes. I can't move on, I love you too much to let you go." Shinichi sighed and tried to smile. "The training is going well, better than expected actually, I'll be ready in a month or so, according to Haibara. Yes, she's actually helping me, isn't it strange? But apparently she thinks that it's better to submerge myself into training than to hide in bed at home. I still can't understand how you went from a normal teenage magician to that. I've been living alongside the criminal world for a long time, but I couldn't have done what you did... I brought a deck of cards," he said with a faux cheery voice and pulled up the new deck. "See! It's Kaitou KID motives on them!" Shinichi shuffled the deck and then spread it out in a feather. "Pick a card!" Shinichi felt how he was near to burst out crying when he picked a card from the deck.

"Oh, no, he's…" Aoko mumbled while she watched the stranger perform a magic trick that she'd seen Kaito do thousands of times. Both of them stood and watched how the magician's boyfriend performed trick after trick until he fell down to his knees with the cards scattered around him.  
"Kaito!" he called out and they could hear the distress in his voice, "why?! Why did you leave me?!" The man picked up something from his pocket and Saguru recognised the recorder he'd seen Kaito talk into once. He immediately calmed down once it started playing and slowly picked up the cards, placing them in their package. Saguru thought back on the last time he saw the magician alive, he'd been just as happy and just as crazy as normally, until the blonde had turned his back to him. Kaito had insisted that both he and Aoko would come to the café after school, no matter what, but once they parted ways and had said their goodbyes Saguru had looked back.

He could still remember the serious face the magician had had as he stared down on a recorder in his hands. He had then brought it to his mouth and then begun talking. The detective didn't know what he'd said in it, but he remembered the tears that streamed down his face and the way he'd looked. In retrospect he realised that the magician had had that same expression as someone who had accepted death as the next step. Aoko had then turned around, calling out; "See you tomorrow at school!" Kaito had hidden the recorder and smiled when he retorted with; "You bet ya! And expect my best tricks tomorrow!" but he never showed up at school, and Aoko had been certain that it was some kind of sick joke that the magician was dead.

Shinichi had fumbled with the recorder and made it jump to the very end.  
"The last recording." Kaito's serious voice said in his ears, and it wasn't really the one he wanted to hear, "I just said goodbye to Aoko and Hakuba, I hope that they won't hate me too much. And my final wish is that you'll be happy and take care of yourself. I know that you like to ignore to eat in favour of a mystery; don't do that. Eat well and take care of yourself. Forget me, find love, have a family. Live. The first time will be hard, but time heals; believe me, I know. You might never be able to get over me completely, but I want you to be happy when I'm not around anymore. And I'm sorry that I'm going to ruin our anniversary by giving you these tapes." The magician interrupted himself.

"You bet ya!" he suddenly called out, "and expect my best tricks tomorrow!" There was a moment of silence on the tape until he continued. "That was Aoko, she said; 'See you tomorrow'. It's too bad, I wanted to celebrate together with you, but they won't be happy unless I show up, and I hope that you'll bring them in later; do what I failed in doing, but don't do anything stupid, like killing them." Kaito sighed and Shinichi stared down on the recorder; he had obeyed his dead lover and brought them in, but he hadn't been particularly gentle about it and Snake, who had been first, had resisted, and had been in intensive care for a month at the hospital since Shinichi had taken out a lot of anger on him. The other members, after hearing what he'd done with their leaders and superiors, had surrendered without a fuss, much to the detective's displeasure.

"I love you, with all my heart, and the only thing I want to do is repeat those words in eternity; I love you. I was so happy when you agreed to have our anniversary the first of April, when we first met face to face, and then they had to go and ruin it… I love you, Kudou Shinichi, the detective who caught me, my mind, body, soul and heart. I love you so much," Kaito's voice broke and Shinichi swallowed thickly, "farewell, my love. I hope that you can find happiness again." Shinichi could hear how Kaito began crying just before the recording ended, and he felt his heart clench at the sound. Kaito was never crying, he might look sad from time to time, but he never cried, not after his father's death, since no sorrow or pain could match that. Little did Shinichi know that the thief had been sitting on the sunny street and cried his heart out, while most people passed him by without a care in the world, and the ones that did stop he asked to leave him alone. The detective felt how tears streamed down his face and wondered how long he'd been crying, but the long days, hours and minutes that he was forced to be Kudou Shinichi, teenage detective, single, happy and full of spirit took its toll on him, so he just sat there in front of the grave and stared blankly at it. Every weekend he was always drained and locked himself up in his house, either hiding in his bed, somewhere dark or at a hotel under an alias. Anything to get away from the disgust he felt for himself when he pretended to be fine, and sleeping the entire weekend was a perfect cure to get enough strength to endure another week.

"You're not alone you know," a voice stated quietly behind him after what must have been an hour had passed.  
"Nakamori-chan," Shinichi mumbled and got up without turning around, not wanting to reveal what he looked like or who he was, "I thought you and Hakuba left." Arms wrapped around him and a head was laid on his shoulder.  
"You were Kaito's boyfriend, weren't you?"  
"Yes," he answered with a whisper and swallowed, realising that he had missed the safety that an embrace provided.

"You're torturing yourself," another voice came, and Shinichi recognised Hakuba's voice, "you keep listening to his recordings don't you? Over and over again. From the first one to the last. Once a day? Twice or thrice? How many are there?"  
"What about it?" Shinichi asked, suddenly angry, but Aoko kept holding him, "that's none of your business. Those recordings are mine, and mine alone."  
"I don't want the recordings. They are Kuroba's gift to you, not me. But a question I do have for you is; do you know who murdered him? Do you know why?"

"Yes," he answered and ran a hand through Aoko's soft hair, feeling her quiet sobs, "the responsible are in jail; they will never see the light of day again, and if they do I might not be able to stop myself from killing them. And as to why he died. He died for us, everyone he loved. They found out who he was, what he possessed, and threatened with killing everyone if he didn't show up on the first of April. The comet passed, everything was lies and they killed him for their own fairy-tale beliefs. Kaito asked me not to kill them," Shinichi held up the device so that they both could see it, "and I almost did. I sent his murderers to intensive care. They're alive, but they won't ever be the same. I almost became like them. I lost myself that day and I don't know who I am anymore. What are my dreams and goals?" Shinichi paused and closed his eyes. "I'm dead on the inside. I can't feel anything but pain and all I want is for my life to end. Kaito says that it will get better, that I will feel again, and that's the only reason that I'm alive, because he wants me to go on. I'm happy that I could tell you this, because I can't tell anyone else. No one knew of your relation so I have to pretend that everything is fine. My poker face breaks sometimes since it's not as good as Kaito's, and my childhood friend wonders what's wrong with me, but how do I tell her? How do I voice my pain when there aren't even words to describe it? Agony, loneliness… Oh, Kaito." Shinichi sighed and grabbed into the girl's arms, "thank you for the hug Aoko, and the kind words; I really needed it."

"Who are you?" Aoko asked quietly, but Shinichi only shook his head inside the hood.  
"I can't tell you, because ideas never die," he chuckled sadly, "in a month's time you'll understand what I'm talking about; some things must live on, to the end of time."


	2. Carrying the Burden

A/N; I realised that this story is actually all about the last chapter ;)

Warnings;  
Strange english, OOCness

Chapter Genre; Angst, Hurt/Comfort  
Uploaded; 2012-12-03  
Chapter rating: K  
Words: 2,200

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**Chap. 2  
Carrying the Burden**

Shinichi stood by the edge of the roof with a confident smirk adorning his lips and the white mantle swirling in the warm winds. The crowds down below roared at the sight of him, calling out in excitement and he held the jewel to the moon, knowing that his lover's murderers would be watching him, fearing that he'd come back to life and that made him smile even more.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" he called out as he threw his arms out and at the same time made the sky explode in fireworks, "it's great to be back after these months!" The audience roared in agreement and the door to the roof was slammed open. Shinichi turned around and smirked back at the panting detective that stared at him in disbelief.  
"Kuroba?" Hakuba asked uncertain and studied his face.  
"No," Shinichi replied and turned around as he threw the red ruby to the detective, "but that's the idea."  
"You're the-," the half-Brit hesitated, but knowing that no one could hear them he continued, "lover."  
"I am Kaitou KID. Fear me; I've come back from the dead," Shinichi smirked and then threw himself off of the roof, falling through the air and then seemed to disappear in an explosion of glitter while the fireworks in the sky burnt the name 'Kaitou KID' into the sky.  
"You said one month," Hakuba smiled sadly at the empty roof and sighed, knowing that the new KID was gone, "you know, you're 15 days, 7 hours, 9 minutes, 46 seconds and 11 milliseconds late, and KID is never late. Don't get caught, you stupid thief."

* * *

One day at the time, one night at the time, one hour, one minute, one breath; that was how Shinichi lived. He soon became a slave to habit and structure; if something wasn't written in his planner it didn't happen, but everything was written there and without it he'd be lost, or at least too confused to function. In neat code he could read which time to set the alarm to, which clothes to wear, how he should prepare a sandwich in case someone dropped dead around him, when breakfast was supposed to be eaten, teeth brushed, when to leave, where to go, lunch eaten, homework done, magic tricks trained, planner examined for faulty calculations or new added notes, laundry, showers, shopping, cleaning, meetings, visits to Kaito's grave, how long he'd be helping the police on a cold case each week and which day, right beside when heists were supposed to be planned and held. Shinichi refused to do anything that happened spontaneously and would have a complete fit if someone tried to force him to go shopping or go for karaoke without planning it ahead, which everyone from the police to his friends had to go through, but just as any rule has its exceptions so did the detective's. Shinichi had one thing that wasn't planned on times, and that happened spontaneously, and that was bathroom visits.

He still loved the detective work even though his heart was aching and he felt hollow; it still made some difference to the victims' families and friends, he could tell from the look on their faces. However, when his watch beeped for 'sandwich time' he took a pause in everything, no matter what he was doing, whether he was investigating a very gruesome death or simply walking through the streets; 'sandwich time' was 'sandwich time' and after a while everyone in the police station knew that.

Satou had even taken the planner from him when he insisted that he had to leave the crime scene without solving a case because he would otherwise be late for 'homework time', and she effectively nullified his will to live and care by doing so. On an authoritarian command Shinichi had solved the case in an hour and then followed to the police station only to sit down in a chair, unable to function without orders. Unfortunately, Satou had been held up by a traffic accident and then forgot to return the planner. Shinichi had spent the night in the chair, staring blankly ahead of himself, not even trying to remember what it meant when his watch beeped at half past ten in the evening. Shinichi didn't want to think; thinking meant remembering, and it was still too painful to remember, especially after he'd learnt how to function without that ability.

Everyone had left in order to get back to their homes and families, and no one had realised that he was there until they saw him sitting there the next day. Megure had tried to talk to him, but had only gotten blank stares as answers from Shinichi's tired brain. He'd been taken to the hospital and it wasn't until a day later that Satou remembered that she'd taken his planner.

* * *

Megure, Takagi and Satou watched Shinichi's eyes come to life again as soon as he held the small book and he'd circled the things that had to be rescheduled and then got up from his hospital bed.

"Kudou-kun, where are you going?" the inspector asked and followed the young man out of his room.  
"It's 'lunch time' I have to eat one third proteins, one third carbohydrates, one third vegetables, a glass of milk and a small sandwich," Shinichi stated and walked towards the hospital's exit, but both Takagi and Satou stepped in his way.  
"Just wait an hour; they will come with food for you," Satou stated and narrowed her eyes at him.  
"'Lunch time' is _now_ not in an hour, in an hour it's 'planner time' for thirty minutes and then it's 'homework time'," Shinichi ratted off, sounding too much like a robot to their liking, "now let me go."  
"I'm sorry, Kudou-kun," Megure sighed, "but you won't be leaving until we know what's wrong with you."  
"But it's 'lunch time'!" Shinichi called out and pulled up the small black book to read the codes, "I have to find the right food to eat, and then after 'homework time' it's 'laundry time', after that it's 'dinner time' and then it's 'arranging clothes time'. I have to go _now!_" The detective hadn't notice that his voice had gotten high and panicked as he read and realised that he might not have time to hold his schedule. The detective earned strange looks from everyone around him and concerned looks from the officers as he closed the planner and tried to pass them, mumbling that he had to go, but Satou tried the same trick that she did the first time and took the book.  
"Give it back!" Shinichi called out and made a grab for it, but was restrained and slammed into the wall with his arms behind his back, "give it back! It's mine! You have no right to take it! Give it back. Give... Back..." The detective sighed and relaxed, making the woman release him, but he only leaned on the wall and let his arms fall to his sides, too tired to fight since he hadn't slept in two days.

The policemen shared a concerned glance and Satou cleared her throat.  
"Kudou Shinichi," she stated in a demanding voice and pointed to one of the spare chairs that stood beside the wall, "sit down." Shinichi did as he was told and sat down to stare straight forward. The three officers ogled the small book in Satou's hands and scurried closer when she opened it, only seeing an extremely neat code consisting of letters, shapes and numbers; all completely random so that even Shinichi's father would be unable to decipher it. A doctor came and Shinichi was commanded into his room. Megure had hurriedly called his parents that had flown back to Japan only to find their son apathetic a day later, sitting in his bed and doing what he was told.

* * *

It had only been a day after their return when Yuusaku stumbled over the truth in the form of tapes. While listening to Kaito talking about his day he had found Shinichi's hideout in one of the secret rooms underneath the house. The author read the files that Shinichi had placed together for each and every heist he'd held, the files on the murderers and seen the album containing pictures of him and his boyfriend. Yuusaku had quickly realised that his son had had some kind of break down after his boyfriend's death, probably blaming himself for not predicting what would happen, but he still wasn't sure what he should think of the fact that his son had gone from a detective to a thief after he fell in love with Kaitou KID.

Shinichi didn't know how long he'd been there, but he ate, drank and slept on command, and it wasn't until his watch beeped another kind of code, his sacred code, that he reacted; it was time to visit Kaito, so he climbed out through the window and disappeared. Yukiko had called the police to help look for him while Yuusaku knew exactly where he'd gone.

The author pulled out his phone with a heavy heart after he'd found out where the boy named Kuroba Kaito was buried and heard the worried voice of his wife as she answered.  
"I think I know where he went," he said quietly, "could you get the car here and I'll show you, but you have to come alone."

The detective was sitting by the grave, unaware that his parents were watching him from far away as he spoke about different codes that he could come up with for a heist note for about an hour before he chose one and mentally wrote it down. The only thing he could to without his planner was becoming Kaitou KID and thereby coming back to life. Kudou Shinichi and Kaitou KID wasn't just one person anymore, they had become two separate people. Whenever Shinichi had a break down, KID would show up a few days or one to two weeks later and fix everything that had gone wrong, which was what happened at the grave. Shinichi would still remember everything KID did when he came back, but until then it was Showtime.

KID smirked as he got up and stretched, feeling a bit stiff from the time he'd spent in a hospital bed.  
"Okay," he looked around and patted his pockets, "firstly; I _need_ a planner." His stomach growled and he looked town.  
"Oh, come on! It hasn't been that long!" the thief deadpanned as it growled a second time, louder than before. "Yes, Master; I obey your command," KID muttered and left the grave, "first; food. Second; planner. Third; ... We'll see what needs to be done."

The thief hummed as he bought a card, envelope and a new pen together with his new planner. Happy that it had been procured he wrote down the heist-note and sent it to the police station with the help on an unknowing policeman that was patrolling the street. On his way home he felt watched and therefore took precautions by walking onto an alley and disappearing.

KID narrowed his eyes as he watched two people dressed in dark attire, with hoods covering their faces walk into the alley from a window on the third floor, realising that someone had been following him. He then ran all the way home and entered the secret room, immediately beginning to create new smoke bombs, fireworks, tricks and checked so that his gadgets were working perfectly. After three hours of working he sneaked out of the house and entered his hospital room without being seen. KID began organising the new planner in the bed and made it vanish as a nurse entered.  
"You!" she said in a firm voice, "stay there while I go and get Mutsu-sensei."  
"Hai!" KID said and pulled up the planner as the nurse disappeared and finished writing before the psychiatrist came running. The detective turned thief baffled them all by reverting back to a high functioning person and was then taken home by his parents, much to the doctors' dismay.

* * *

KID noticed that the car ride carried a heavy silence and he didn't know why until they got home and was escorted into the secret basement. He had worriedly watched his father look around and then turned his gaze to his son. KID had expected him to be angry or show disappointment, not to look curious and understanding. Yuusaku had confronted him and the thief had ended up crying into his father's shirt while the author held him. Yuusaku never hushed him, but he did hold his son, silently promising that he wouldn't leave him. Once the thief stopped crying he found that not only his father was holding him, but also his mother had shown up.  
"Aw, Shin-chan," the woman sighed and voiced his father's silent words, "we're not leaving you again."

What Shinichi didn't know, however, was that both of his parents attended all of his heists after that. He saw his mother as she sneaked inside from time to time, sometimes simply by knowing who he stole from, but he never saw his father who always was close. A dark silhouette on a nearby roof, dressed in KID-attire, ready to step in if his son ever got into too much trouble. Yes, Yuusaku was always watching over his son, delighted by the mystery he created with the Kaitou KID persona. A similar mystery to that of his Night Baron, only this one was real.

* * *

A/N; I soooo wanted to write Dr. House instead of Mutsu-sensei! XD  
Ooh yes, I've been watching 'House MD' lately

* * *

**Answer to guest review; Vacant Balcony**  
Thank you! :D  
I'm happy that you say that, I wasn't exactly sure how well it was written.  
You have to read something funny afterwards. ;)


	3. The Detective's Secret

A/N; This chapter turned out a bit jumpy

Warnings;  
Strange english, OOCness

Chapter Genre; Drama, Family  
Uploaded; 2012-12-08  
Chapter rating: K+  
Words: 3,400

* * *

**Chap. 3  
The Detective's Secret **

For five years she'd been watching him, seeing that unexpected happiness suddenly turn into pain and depression. She'd seen him struggle and then get back up on his feet. She was by his side and saw every confession he turned down. He was still single, and always alone, and she waited for him, until one day he would be his old self, or as normal as he could ever be, but he never truly came back to her. The Shinichi she grew up with was gone and replaced by a magic-loving, world-weary, calm and a bit sad detective. He didn't laugh as much as he used to. He also had that new sad smile that pained her to see, and he isolated himself, until she, Sonoko and Hattori were the only ones who visited. His parents had come back, for good it seemed and they only left for a weekend here and there, never leaving their son alone for more than a few days.

* * *

Ran stood in the library, watching her childhood friend smile as he dusted off a shelf and she decided that she was going to tell him her feelings. Both Kazuha and Sonoko had boyfriends, and everyone she knew had their partner, which left her the only one who was single. Even her father had been looking strangely at her and had even asked why she was alone. Kogoro knew that his daughter was beautiful and had therefore prepared himself to chase away any person when she was too young for a partner or anyone he considered bad, but now she was twenty-three and still pining after a world-renowned detective that was married to his work.

"Shinichi," Ran began and watched how the detective turned around with a smile, "why are you alone?" Shinichi's smile turned into one of those sad smiles as he thought about it.  
"Because I don't want any enemies to be able to get a hold of my family," he shrugged and got back to working.  
"Shinichi, please," she said and placed a hand on his arm, "I've seen you turn down lots and lots of confessions, but will you accept me when I say 'I love you', you stupid detective-geek?" Shinichi was about to turn her down, but let out a sigh instead. He sent a glance to the floor before he smiled.  
"Do you really love me? As I am today?"  
"Yes," Ran said with conviction, blushing furiously and Shinichi frowned.  
"I come with a lot of baggage," he commented seriously and her eyes widened when she realised that she wasn't being turned down.  
"I don't care. I love you,"  
"There are some things that you should know. I am prepared to give myself to you, if you want me, but the only thing you can't have is my heart. I gave it away to someone who died, and for five years I've mourned their loss. I tried moving on a few months ago, but I realised that my heart was as cold as the headstone on his grave. If you still want me, with the exception of my heart, you can have me."  
"How can you say that?" Ran asked with tears streaming from her eyes, "you're not some piece of meat that you can wrap in a present and give away! And why didn't you tell me that you lost someone?" Shinichi blinked at her question, wondering why, until he remembered that he could actually have told her about Kaito; he could've, but didn't.  
"I don't know," he mumbled and got back to dusting, never even realising that Ran left him after that.

Shinichi continued on his life, as day a detective and as night, once or twice a week, a phantom thief. He no longer had a planner and he no longer needed to plan the heists as meticulously as he once did. He enjoyed going to the police station and handing Nakamori a note in person, as Kaitou KID; it was always hilarious to make a ruckus on the fourth floor of the police station. Magic had become a hidden passion to the detective; it was something that made his heart flutter with happiness and he had even begun to keep and train doves. KID had gone travelling a few months to the rest of the world before he came back, and when he did he understood that another person had left him; the only one who kept in touch with him was Hattori. It wasn't until a year later when Ran showed up on his doorstep crying that he saw his childhood friend again, and he allowed her to enter his life as easily as she had gone.

When Shinichi had been travelling Ran had begun dating and actually fell for someone else, and that was why she showed up on his doorstep; she'd had her heart ripped out and stomped on. Yukiko had made some tea while Shinichi turned on some romantic comedy that his mother liked and allowed his friend to cry into his shirt as he held her. He didn't really know how it happened, but they began dating seriously and he enjoyed their dates even though he couldn't love her, she was still his best friend and he would do anything in his power to make her happy.

Ran accepted that Shinichi would never love her, but he would never hurt her either; that she could tell by the look in his eyes. After a month of dating she noticed that he would disappear for a few hours every weekend. She asked him where he went and he told her that he visited his old love. He never said Kaito's name and he never took her to the grave, but he never hid that it was a guy.

* * *

A little time went by and Shinichi got better at playing 'loving spouse'. He even surprised Ran with a kiss and smiled at her afterwards. Just before they officially became a couple Shinichi decided that he should let the woman know of his double life so he told her, and she laughed, not believing him. Shinichi waited with a smile; her laughter wasn't hurtful, it was nice that she was smiling about something he'd said.  
"Ran, it's true," he said when she stopped, "I really am Kaitou KID."  
"Shinichi, you couldn't," she protested, "you're a detective."  
"And a thief," he said and led her down to the secret room. Once there all she could do was stare at him in disbelief.

"Why?" she asked and he took out an album from a drawer.  
"Because the grave I've been visiting," he smiled a pained smile, "is Kaitou KID's." The detective turned the album towards her, allowing her to see a picture of Kaito and himself; a picture of when he'd fallen asleep in the couch and Kaito had grinned as he took a picture of them.  
"I'm the one sleeping, KID is the one who took it," Shinichi began again as Ran started to flip though the pages, "his name is Kuroba Kaito. We were together for eight months before he was murdered, shot through the head. I caught them and became Kaitou KID so that they would think that they'd failed in killing him, also because I considered killing myself and Haibara suggested becoming KID to keep me alive," he sighed tiredly, "I have a lot of baggage. Do you still want me?" Shinichi was surprised by the fear he felt for the fact that Ran might leave him; he didn't want to be alone, but it wasn't fair to enter a relationship where he only pretended to be in love.

"Yes," Ran answered and wrapped her arms around him, "Shinichi, I still want you, and I'm guessing that you won't stop being KID even if I asked?"  
"I will never stop," Shinichi smiled, "but KID might take a vacation for a few months or years." Ran pulled him into a kiss that he responded to, but without the passion that he'd felt with the thief. Ran could get his heart to beat faster and make him happy, but not in the same way Kaito had. His heart hadn't just beaten a little bit harder, it had raced and he had felt lightheaded. The world had blurred when he was with Kaito and only they had existed as time became unimportant.

"I love you, Shinichi," Ran mumbled as she held him in a hug and the detective grew uncertain.  
"Do you want me to say 'I love you too'?"  
"No," she responded with a sigh, "not until you can say it without it being a lie."  
"Okay," he whispered.

* * *

After only half a year of living together and getting used to each other's routines Ran actually proposed to Shinichi, which was how they ended up getting married.

"Ran?" Shinichi asked a few days before the marriage, just before Hattori and Kazuha were about to arrive, and the woman looked up from the magazine she was reading together with Sonoko, "do you want a child?"  
"Yes, of course," she smiled and Sonoko giggled, unaware of how the couple's came to be, "do you?"  
"Well," Shinichi grinned happily, "if we have a boy we could name him Sherlock and if we have a girl we could name her Irene." The detective chuckled, but then caught the women's disturbed faces.  
_"Like hell we would!"_ Ran roared and threw a lamp at him, but he avoided it and ran, _"get back here! You Holmes-freak!"_

Hattori blinked as the door in front of him was slammed open and Shinichi ran out without closing it.  
"Hattori! Run for your life!" he called out and grabbed into his friend's arm, fleeing through the gates before Ran showed up in the door and glared out.  
"Yea, you better run, you Holmes-freak!" Ran blinked and smiled at her friend, knowing that Shinichi would be back before the evening; they were, after all, having a rehearsal.  
"Oh? Kazuha-chan?" Ran eyed the small child in her friend's arms, "this is your daughter?"  
"Yes, her name is Etsuko," Kazuha smiled back and lovingly caressed the sleeping child.

* * *

Shinichi paced, he was worried, and his father smiled at him, trying to keep him calm, but it didn't help as a scream was followed with what sounded like Ran's fist through a wall. Both Eri and Kogoro were there, not counting the detective's own parents, but neither would've been there if it wasn't for the fact that Ran's water broke in the middle of the dinner and she'd gone into labour. Shinichi took a quick breath as another scream followed and realised how terrible it must've been to the professor when he used the many antidotes and lastly the final cure, but then the scream stopped and another one followed; it was over, or so Shinichi thought, until Ran screamed again. He stood still, not daring to move, and waited, waited for the moment when the doctors would open the door to let him in.

"The father may enter," a nurse said and Shinichi immediately moved, but when Ran's parents tried to go to their daughter they were stopped, "only the husband. Kudou-sama's request."

"Shinichi," Ran mumbled tiredly as arms wrapped around her and a gentle kiss was laid on her forehead.  
"I'm here," he whispered and caressed her cheek while he sent a glance around the room, seeing two doctors with their backs to him.  
"Mmm, I love you," it was the first time since their marriage that Ran said it, hoping that Shinichi would answer.  
"I like you, a lot," the detective whispered in her ear and made the woman smile.  
"That's better than nothing at all," she confessed while her husband eyed the wall, wondering if he should pay for the damage that she'd caused.

"Your children," the two doctors smiled at the couple and Shinichi's eyes widened as he saw two bundles; one red and one blue.  
"Children?" he asked as he accepted the child wrapped in a blue towel, "as in more than one?"  
"As in twins," Ran smiled and took the red one while Shinichi smiled, "one girl and one boy."  
"Who's going to be a detective when he grows up?" Shinichi cooed and sent an amused glance to the other child, "and who's going to destroy our house with her fists of steel?" Ran laughed and Shinichi smiled while he caressed the sleeping child's chin suddenly realising that he was actually a father.

* * *

Shinichi smiled as he stood outside the gates of Teitan Elementary School. He'd actually snuck in and watched over his children for a while since it was their first day, not that anyone knew that.  
"Tou-san!" a boy's voice called out and Shinichi smiled as his son came running through the crowds.  
"Dai-chan!" Shinichi grinned as he boy launched into his arms.  
"I had so much fun!" he boy crawled out from his grip and up to his shoulders, where he contently sat and ruffled Shinichi's hair until it was an unrecognizable mess, "I'm so awesome! And everyone loved my magic tricks! I'm the best!" Daichi's father smiled a bit; at least there was nothing wrong with his confidence.  
"And how did things go for Miz-chan?"  
"Aw, there was this third grader who tried to take the book she was reading," the boy gave off what Shinichi could only describe as an evil laughter, "you should've seen the look on his face when she threw him across the room. It was perfect! Oh, and I made some new friends!" Daichi smiled as a calm-looking kid with glasses and blonde hair showed up by the gates, "Norio!"

"Kudou," the boy greeted and sent a glance around the street before pulling up a pocket watch and walked over, "thank you for retrieving my pocket watch."  
"No problem," Daichi grinned and scared Shinichi by jumping off, but landed on his feet without any harm before he turned to his father and explained what happened, "there was this stupid kid who threw the watch out the window and it got stuck in a tree, so I climbed up and got it!" Daichi smiled proudly and then realised that he should introduce his friend, "Tou-san! This is Hakuba Norio, he's two years older than me!"  
"The pleasure is all mine," Norio bowed to Shinichi and made the man laugh as he crouched down.  
"Don't tell me, Hakuba Saguru is your father, isn't he?"  
"Yes," Norio said a bit startled and glowered suspiciously at the man.  
"You're the spitting image of him!" Shinichi grinned while the boy blushed.  
"Thank you, and can I assume that you work for my father?"  
"For him? Never," he grinned, "I compete with him in cases from time to time. The names Kudou Shinichi."  
"Kudou, I thought I heard that name somewhere. Dad speak of you fondly," the blonde boy bowed and Shinichi shook his head at the boy who pretended to be grownup.

"Hakuba-kun, if there's one thing I've learnt from my life it's that it is okay to be a child when you are one, because life is short and shouldn't be hurried through. I too acted like I was older than I was, and that's okay, but don't hurry too much; you might just bite off more than you can chew." The blonde blinked and Shinichi realised that he might have gone too far by telling that to someone else's child, but it was something that stuck with him ever since the days with the Shounen Tantei.  
"I understand," the boy stated confidently, "I need to understand what I'm doing before I do it, but at the same time keep a balance with the present so that I don't forget who I am and thereby fail in understanding. It's good advice."

"Tou-san!" the voice of an angry girl came and Shinichi looked up, seeing a teacher and his daughter stand with her arms crossed and her foot tapping; the spitting image of her mother whenever Shinichi was in big trouble, like the time he taught Daichi to pick locks, which was actually an accident; not that Yuusaku hadn't taught him before Shinichi got to it, but his son was sneakier than he'd thought and had tricked him, which was the first and only time he managed to do that, not for lack of trying.  
"Mizuki-chan? I heard you hurt a boy," Shinichi smiled calmly, and the girl huffed frustrated.  
"I refuse to apologize," she stated with passion, "it was my right! If he hadn't taken my book I wouldn't have hurt him. Consequences; some day he might learn that word!"  
"Miz-chan," Shinichi said as he stroke his daughter's hair, "even if you were right, you sometimes have to apologize. Just like he has to apologize for taking your book." The girl pouted and sent a glare to the boy that was standing behind the teacher. "You can't solve everything with violence either."  
"Fine," the girl muttered and began to talk, "I'm sorry for hurting you, but try to take my stuff again and I'll throw you out the window!"  
"Mizuki!" Shinichi gaped and then sighed; two children were too much for him to handle. He could never remind himself that he was that wild as a child, but he did get in a lot of trouble.

* * *

Aoko froze as she saw the man that her child was standing beside; it looked just like Kaito, but she knew that it wasn't since he was dead.  
"Aoko?" Saguru asked as he saw her pale.  
"He-, he looks just like Kaito," she mumbled and watched how a child with equally messy dark hair actually climbed his leg, and then up along his back until he reached his goal. The child dug his fingers into the Kaito-lookalike's hair and said something to her son that responded with a laugh.  
"Kudou!" Saguru called out and made the man turn to them.

"Oi! Hakuba! It's good to see you," Shinichi smiled and watched how Norio walked up to who Shinichi had to assume was his mother.  
"Likewise," the blonde smiled and eyed the child that was busy with applying colours to his father's hair, "and this must be your son."  
"Hello! I'm Daichi!" the little imp greeted with a grin and made a sloppy wave to his sister with a hand covered in green colouring, "and that is my twin-sister Mizuki." The girl gave a polite bow and then walked up to her father to grasp into his hand.  
"You have twins? I never knew," Hakuba commented amused and eyed the child on his shoulders, seeing the similarities with a magician he'd known long ago, "what will you two become when you grow up?"

"An actress, like Yukiko-obaasan," Mizuki smiled while Daichi grinned and saw the opportunity to give a colour change to Norio's father's hair, but Shinichi caught the small bomb in his hand and pretended to stretch himself, which made Daichi scowl and turn more of his hair pink.  
"That's a great goal," Hakuba smiled and turned his gaze to the mischievous Kaito-spirited thing on the detective's shoulders.  
"I'm going to become either a great magician or a great detective, but probably both," Daichi exclaimed with confidence and made the half-Brit smile, "just like dad!" For a millisecond fear showed in Shinichi's eyes, but it was gone before Hakuba was even certain if he'd even seen it at all.

"So your father knows magic?" Hakuba smiled, "he never says much about himself when we speak. I'd love to see a trick."  
"I'm not that good," Shinichi blushed and tried to get away.  
"That's not what you say normally! You always say that you had the best teacher in the world!" Daichi grinned happily, completely unaware of his father's old night-time job that he'd taken a pause from when his children were born, but KID still showed up from time to time since the fake heist notes and impostors were something he had to deal with.  
"Dai, remember that magic are made to bring a smile to people's faces," Shinichi said and performed a small trick, something anyone could've done if they were prepared, "and don't use it to try and mess with people, like trying to dye Hakuba's hair; stop it." Daichi pouted as his father caught another bomb aimed for the blonde detective that raised an eyebrow.  
"He's a bit mischievous, isn't he?" Hakuba smiled and then threw a glance around at Aoko, "you haven't met my wife, Hakuba Aoko."  
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Na-Hakuba-san," Shinichi smiled and was happy that his poker face covered the fact that he'd like to blush from the near mentioning of 'Nakamori'.  
"Nice to meet you, Kudou-kun,"  
"Ah! She looks a lot like mom!" Daichi exclaimed and made the adults look at him.  
"Yea, a bit," Shinichi ruffled his son's hair, turning it pink at the same time without him noticing.

* * *

**Answer to guest review; 'just a KID**'  
Hahaha, yea, I also thought that that part was funny, in a bit of a sad way ;)  
Thank you, I'm happy that you say that!


	4. A Family Secret

A/N; Holy crap! It's already the 13th! XD

Warnings;  
Strange english, OOCness

Chapter Genre; Drama, Humour and a pinch of sadness  
Uploaded; 2012-12-13  
Chapter rating: K+  
Words: 3,800

* * *

**Chap. 4**  
**A Family Secret **

A seventeen-years-old Daichi scowled in annoyance as his sister glared at him with her fists clenched in the air, ready to give him a good beating, but he too was ready for her. Neither of their parents was home at the moment so there was no one to stop their fighting this time. Mizuki charged and Daichi vanished in a puff of smoke, but Mizuki jumped on the shelf in the library and took a grip into the railing of the balcony-like next floor immediately spotting her brother by the shelves. An explosion in red made her hair change colour, but she didn't care as she launched a fist against him; if she struck him he'd break a bone and she'd win. A ribbon appeared in Daichi's hands and he moved so that she only grazed his side, capturing her wrist with the banding and in a puff of smoke both of her hands had been bound together. A well-aimed kick forced the magician to take a jump back and gave Mizuki enough time to free her hands, but this time both teenagers charged towards each other. Daichi grinned and Mizuki narrowed her eyes before something trapped her leg, and as she sent a chocked glance down her brother took the opportunity to wrap her in ribbons.

He grinned with his hands on his hips as the bundle struggled, but was unable to get free. Daichi closed his eyes and sighed relieved; he'd won, again, but he honestly feared the day he wouldn't.  
"Damn it!" Mizuki called out in frustration, but then groaned and relaxed, "next time I'll get you..."  
"Oi! I agreed to help you train, so the least you can say is 'thank you' and not 'I'll kill you in your sleep'," Daichi smiled and released his sister from her prison.  
"Thank you, it really does a lot you know," she smiled at her brother, "I'll definitely win after training with you!"

"Don't forget that you're supposed to help me rehearsing for my play," Daichi glared at his sister that was leaving him and she grinned innocently back.  
"I really hoped that you'd forgotten about that," she confessed with the same grin and then sighed in defeat as they went down the stairs.  
"How could you ever think that I'd forget?" Daichi snorted and sent the library a glance, making sure that nothing was out of place after the fight, but somehow their father would walk inside and then deadpan before he grounded them for a week, like he always did; he didn't like when they fought in the library.

Daichi narrowed his eyes and stared; something was wrong with one of the bookcases, and as he walked up to it he saw that a part of it had retreated into the wall.  
"Dai?" his sister called out from the library's entrance, "wasn't it you who was crawling all over the wall earlier because you wanted to rehearse?"  
"Miz, I found something you'll love! Come and look at this!" he called out and grinned; why hadn't his father ever told him that there was a secret passage in the house? Was there one or were there more?

"No!" she said in disbelief once she saw the passage and pulled up her phone, immediately turning on the flashlight and was about to walk inside when Daichi grabbed into her shoulder and held her back.  
"What?!" she exclaimed irritated and Daichi smirked.  
"Use that detective brain of yours a little," he said with a huff, "you activated this passageway when we were fighting. Dad gets furious every time we fight in the library, saying that he doesn't want any damage to Ojiichan's books, but what if he just doesn't want us to find this? And if it's a secret that needs to be hidden to even us, maybe we should just let it be..." The teenagers grinned at each other, letting the other know that they were prepared to defy their father and accept whatever punishment awaited them.

"But there could be traps," Mizuki mumbled and shone the light around, seeing a narrow staircase go down.  
"Yea, you should go first," Daichi grinned and his sister shook her head, but still walked ahead of him and to her relief there were no traps. The teenage boy smirked and closed the secret passageway to be on the safe side, knowing that his father was gone for the entire day while their mother could be home any minute.

They walked down the stairs and then got to a plateau where there was a door. They opened it with a grin, hoping that it wasn't empty, but what greeted them was nothing of what they ever expected. Daichi gaped at the mirrored walls and the gadgets that were lying on the table; the entire room was filled with magician's items and in one corner there was a white top hat with the rest of the Kaitou KID-outfit.  
"No," Mizuki stared shocked at the room while Daichi's eyes gleamed and his mouth twisted into a grin, "no, this can be... Dad can be KID."  
"This is too cool! I knew that it was something wrong with the way mom would look at dad whenever there was a heist note!" the magician immediately ran into the room and grabbed the top hat, placing it on his head and threw the mantel over his shoulders. "I'm Kaitou KID," he grinned, holding the mantle to hide his face and pulled the hat down to hide his eyes, "I need a monocle! Where's the monocle?" Daichi was in a frenzy while Mizuki opened an album and stared down of pictures of her young father together with someone who could be his twin.

_'Love you forever Kai-chan!_' she read in her father's neat handwriting underneath a picture of Kaitou KID caught in a trap, hanging upside down, with Shinichi beside him as if he'd caught a big fish. She flipped through the pages, seeing small scribbles in two different handwritings declaring their undying love for each other. She sat down by the workbench feeling confused and disturbed by seeing pictures of her own father kissing someone else other than her mother, and to make things worse; it was a guy. She shook her head and then got to the middle where only a newspaper clip was inserted.

'_Teenager found murdered'_ read the headline and that was where the album ended. Mizuki read the small article and the small, shaky notes in her father's handwriting, ignoring her brother that was looking through cupboard after cupboard, trying to see everything that might exist in the room. Mizuki twitched when a voice started talking and stared bewildered on her brother that was holding into a recorder.

"What is this?" Daichi gaped once the person on the tape introduced himself and talked about his love for Shinichi.  
"That must be dad's old boyfriend," Mizuki commented as she closed the album, "he was murdered on the night of the thirty-first of Mars. A single shot into his mouth from close range. The bullet went through his brain and then he was dumped in a ditch along a road. It's all in the album, along with pictures of them."

The only thing that broke the silence in the room for a long while was the voice of a person long gone, and since the recordings had been made by Kaito for Shinichi's ears only there were things on it that weren't exactly child-friendly.  
"Maybe we shouldn't listen to this..." Mizuki said and Daichi paused the recording to stare at his sister. He lowered the volume and got back to listening to it, making Mizuki scowl.  
"_I wanna hear it! Turn it up!"_ she roared and Daichi obeyed with a knowing smirk. For hours they sat inside the room, listening to their father's boyfriend speak about the past, until they got to the last recording, but as it ended the recorder clicked and continued in Shinichi's pain-filled voice.

"I caught them," he said with a voice not far from breaking and took an unsteady breath; both of the siblings could hear that he'd been crying, "Kaito... I almost killed them... I wanted to kill them... I _wanted_ to do it so badly..." Shinichi sobbed, "I held the gun to Snake's head, and felt good as I imagined the blood splatter if I had fired; it would've been such a delight to see... It felt good when I thought of shooting him in his stomach to watch him bleed out and die... Slowly... Painfully... I... I wanted it to be painful... Kai... Who am I? I don't know anymore... Snake attacked me, and I couldn't stop myself... I didn't want him dead... I kept hitting him..." Shinichi paused slightly and took a few shivering breaths, trying to calm himself, "he begged me to stop as I struck his broken bones, but I kept going. I don't know for how long I kept torturing him; his few underlings watched from where they were tied up and I threatened them later, saying that I'd hand them to the police without torture if they pretended that nothing ever happened. Snake didn't know why I was enraged; we have no connection to each other... I broke my hand and wrist on him," Shinichi breathed heavily, "Kai, I want to die..." Daichi sent his sister a glance, seeing that she sat with her hands over her mouth and tears running down her face as they listened to their father's sobs. "I want to die... Me!... I don't even let murderers kill themselves, but now I want to die... Hattori would call me an idiot, and you'd slap some sense into me... But I'm alone and I've never felt anything so tempting... Just dying... Ending it all; no pain, no sorrow, just... Blissful nothingness..." Shinichi sighed happily and his voice became longing, "Death, I never knew how appealing it would be to just die..." There was a cut and Daichi paused, remembering how his father had laughed happily the day before as he tried to help out with his acting class. How close had it been that his father had killed himself? At around the same age as he was now? If Shinichi had killed himself they wouldn't even exist.

"Turn it back on," Mizuki whispered in a weak voice, "I want to know how he feels now." Daichi nodded; he too wanted to know what had kept their father alive.

"My name is Kudou Shinichi," their father's voice carried strong, completely different from the previous recording, "I am a detective known as the Hensei Holmes and I am a phantom thief known as Kaitou KID. Three years since your death, love, and your murderers are still having nightmares about you coming for revenge. They think that Pandora worked and brought you back to life, how foolish. I managed to hide the fact that I stopped using my head to think outside of crime scenes for a year before I was found out. Mom and dad came home too. They promised to never leave me again, I appreciate it, and they are helping with the Kaitou KID-heists, but they always had that kind of brand of insanity so I can't actually say that I am that surprised. I really need someone to care for me right now, I still can't function well," there was a sigh and the recorder cut.

"Hello, love," their father began, "it's been six years since your death. Ran confessed her feelings to me, of course I already knew, but just as I was about to turn her down I told her that she could have me if she wanted me; everything except my heart. Heck, better that someone gets happy than that I sit here and rot away, but she didn't appreciate the gesture, it seems. She hasn't come by for six months." Daichi felt cold and stared at the recorder in terror; was that what his father thought of their family? That he was just a sacrifice to make them happy?

"Ran showed up again. It's been another year. She accepted the fact that I will never love her like she loves me. We're dating, and I've decided to do everything in my power to make her happy. I belong to her now; she can do with me as she wishes."

"Ran proposed today, after another six months and I've told her about Kaitou KID. I thought that it was supposed to be the other way around, but I'd never propose and she knows that. I accepted even though it's been seven and a half years since your death and I still can't move on."

"I'm a married man today. A man that stood by the altar promising to love someone; a complete lie, but as long as Ran wants me, she can have me."

"Something's different... I think I might be falling in love. Can you really love two people at the same time?"

"I'm honestly scared. Ran gave birth a few days ago; twins and they are both sleeping kindly while Ran is resting. I don't know if I'm going to be a good father, I sure hope so, but I've never been this scared; what if they turn out like me? I can only think of all the trouble I got Ran into when we were small. I'll do my best to raise them to good, kind-hearted people... They are so small," Shinichi remarked with a small chuckle, "I'm just sitting here by their crate, watching them and wishing that they'll love me. I'm a bit sad though, Ran didn't want to name either of them Sherlock or Irene." Both of the teenagers deadpanned at the statement and glared at the recorder that clicked.

"Daichi and Mizuki are three years now and KID is taking a long vacation. I only show up when there's a fake heist or a challenge; I wouldn't want Jirokichi to get bored, would I? But the old man is slowly realising that he'll never catch me, and I think that Nakamori-keibu is secretly missing me," their father spoke with a light voice, obviously not sad anymore, "you know, the strangest thing happened today. Ran said 'I love you' for the third time since our marriage, and I answered back. I'm surprised because I think that I might actually be in love with her. She was so happy."

"You know, Phantom Lady comes by from time to time; I can't even imagine the pain she must've gone through. First losing her husband and then you; I guess she bound to me after that, since I look a lot like you. She's so lonely, and I've told her that she can stay as long as she wants. We're a strange family now; Mom, dad, me, Ran, our children and your mother, living in the same house. Well, it doesn't actually matter; it's a big house and a big family full of love," Shinichi sighed with a small chuckle, "a family of criminals... Your mother also said that Daichi is like a reincarnation of you," Shinichi sighed, "I don't believe that, but since mom and Chikage seems to get along I hope that they won't corrupt him while they babysit."

"What's wrong with everyone? Dad thought that that I should teach my children to become criminals, something about 'Carrying the Legacy of the Phantom Thief'. That's ridiculous! Both of them are going to become honest working, hopefully detectives, but that's their choice. Both mom and Chikage agrees with dad about the phantom thief-stuff, but I don't think it's a good idea; what if they get caught? At least Ran is agreeing with me..." the recorder clicked and they waited for a while, but no new recording began playing.

"That was..." Mizuki trailed off, staring at her brother that looked back.  
"Strange?" Daichi tried to help and then frowned worriedly, "I never knew that dad was suicidal at one point. He always seems so happy."  
"I don't want to know what I've heard; I feel like crying," she sniffed as she sent a glance to her wristwatch and looked around, "we should make sure that nothing's out of order. We have to leave it like it was. Those recordings were like dad's diary, I don't think that he'd ever want us to hear them. I know I wouldn't if they were mine."  
In a hurry they both cleaned up and then looked around, staring at the room like it would betray them in some way before they made their way up and carefully entered the library again.

Ran came home, expecting to find at least a few broken items, but what she saw surprised her greatly, but in a good way. Both of her children were sitting by the table, peacefully doing homework. She smiled and gave both of them a kiss on their head as she made her way to the kitchen to prepare dinner and never noticed the way the siblings glanced to each other before they returned to their homework, not really concentrating on it.

Only ten minutes passed and Yukiko came running through the dinner room and went into the kitchen to help. Both teenagers looked up to see Yuusaku walking past the open archway, heading for the library.  
"You know," Daichi whispered and leaned close to his sister, "I look at Ojiichan and I still can't believe that he's Kaitou KID's assistant; I just can't see it."  
"Yea," she smirked, "no wonder dad always disappeared whenever there was a heist."  
"And we tried to make him watch the heist with us when we were small," Daichi chuckled, "I always wondered why he never was interested in the thief that no detective could catch."

"Dai-chan! Miz-chan!" Ran's voice carried out from the kitchen, "could you set the table? Your father will be late so you don't have to set out a plate for him."  
"Okay, mom," the children chorused and packed away their books.

* * *

Neither Daichi nor Mizuki said anything during the dinner, as they were too busy with reconstructing the world that had been turned upside down. Chikage, who they couldn't believe was actually Phantom Lady, joked with Yukiko and Ran, who both knew of the secrets. The siblings sent each other a glance, showing the other that they were just as baffled as the other.

"Daichi, Mizuki, is everything alright?" Yuusaku asked with a smile as the caught the fifth glance the teenagers shared.  
"Um, yea, yea, of course," Daichi answered stammering and thereby received everyone's attention, making him feel obligated to explain, "I-, it's just that... I don't want to talk about it..."  
"It's nothing, really," Mizuki answered with a sigh and continued to eat as if nothing was wrong.  
"Okay," their grandfather smiled, "I can tell that it obviously is something, but I won't ask. Secrets are something you have to _earn_ and something you have to learn how to keep, even in the face of death." The teenagers sent their grandfather a horrified glance and saw in those mirthful, intelligent eyes that he knew. Yuusaku probably knew everything they had done; he was after all worse than their father when it came to things like that.  
"We understand that," Daichi muttered and blushed, wondering if their father would see what they'd done, "some things just have the ability to shake your whole world, you know." The teenager said and his grandfather smiled at him, happy that his grandson had confirmed his suspicion that they'd found the secret room.

* * *

Daichi was sitting by the desk by the window in his darkened room, waiting for his father to come home. Snow was quietly falling outside the window through the evening and he was moved a finger over the brim of the monocle he'd stolen, holding it to his eye and watched how a zoom-function was activated; one of the drawers had been filled with them so he didn't think that his father would miss it. A push of a small button at the end of it activated the night vision and he was almost blinded by the streetlights. The teenage boy frowned while he averted his gaze from the street to the dark front yard and tried to swallow the lump that had somehow made a nest in his throat.

"_I want to die," _the memory of the recording whispered and he felt a stab in his chest, imagining the pain of losing his father, _"blissful nothingness... No pain... No sorrow..."_ Daichi shook his head and felt a shiver go through him, but he didn't know if it came from the cold that radiated off of the window or imagining his father curled up and crying; he'd never even seen Shinichi cry, and he hadn't even thought that he was able to. Shinichi was just his father; a happy, magic-loving detective who loved his family and was the pillar of confidence and safety to him. Daichi could speak with his father about anything, sometimes they didn't even need to speak aloud. When he was small his father could tell whenever he was sad and would hold him until it was all better, but it was strange to imagine how his life had been before he had a family. It was strange imagining that his father had even been together with anyone else than his mother, let alone had had a boyfriend. He was a detective and a thief, hell, their entire family nowadays consisted of thieves. His father and his grandparents were Kaitou KID and his assistants. His godmother was Phantom Lady, which meant that the only non-criminal was his mother, who accepted it all.

The gates opened and a single person walked though. Daichi could tell that it was his father and stuffed the monocle back into his pocket as he got up from the chair. He quickly sneaked downstairs without making a single sound and then stood by the door waiting. His father opened and shuffled inside with a shiver, seeing his son staring at him as he took off the winter coat.

"Daichi? Is something wrong?" Shinichi asked a bit worriedly, but the teenager only gave him a hug, making him blink in confusion; his son hadn't given him a hug ever since he'd 'grown too old for it'.  
"Hey, how are you?" he whispered and held him.  
"Dad, I love you," Daichi grabbed into his father harder, "you're the best dad anyone could ever have, you know that, right?"  
"Huh? Did you burn down the school or something?"  
"Don't be stupid, of course not,"  
"Okay, tell me what happened," Shinichi stroke his son's back, but Daichi only shook his head.  
"I don't want to talk about it," he mumbled and the detective grew even more worried.  
"Dai, you," Shinichi bit his lip; he didn't really know how to phrase his worst fear after death, "did someone _hurt_ you?" He put a certain tone into the sentence and knew that his son would understand.  
"_What?!"_ Daichi pulled away and stared at his father in disbelief, before he laughed and released him. "Of course not... How would they? You really are stupid some times," he said with love in his voice and left his father none the wiser.  
"Mom placed a plate of food in the refrigerator, so you just have to reheat it in the microwave," the teenager grinned back at his embarrassed father and then walked back to his room to examine the monocle closer.

* * *

**Answer to guest review; Vacant Balcony  
**Yea, it was hard to write ShinRan when I'm a ShinKai-fan, but for the sake of the story I had to. Hahahaha! Thank you, I'm happy that you say that! It sounds beautifully poetical ^^  
Sensei? ^^'''' I don't think that I'm that good.


	5. Challenging the KID of Old

Warnings;  
Strange english, OOCness

Chapter Genre; Drama, Humour  
Uploaded; 2012-12-18  
Chapter rating: K+  
Words: 4,400

* * *

**Chap. 5  
Challenging the KID of Old  
**

Daichi couldn't stop thinking about Kaitou KID and he had the monocle with him wherever he went, holding it in his hand and caressing it in his pocket. He still couldn't quite grasp the fact that his father was a thief, but the wish for taking over after him and stirring up trouble was growing stronger by each day. The teenager had been watching old movies and clips from heists every time he'd gotten a chance and he was always amazed by the acts. He'd singled out the ones that were caused by his father's boyfriend and by his father. Both of them had had a somewhat rough start where they almost got caught and he didn't want that kind of start so he began training for the first challenge. Even though his body was nimble and strong from his gymnastics classes and his own training so that he'd be able to perform his own stunts in movies once he became a movie star, he still needed the training. He'd had a few small parts already in movies, but his acting still needed improvement even though Yukiko-obaachan was more than willing to help him.

The teenager stole one outfit from the secret room, seeing as the wardrobes contained a lot of them. He ran through the backstreets getting the mantle stuck in the walls and fire escapes until he grew annoyed and started training backflips and acrobatic movement, often ending up with the mantle wrapped around his head or having to run after an escaped hat. Every night he trained, and then fixed the outfit so that it didn't look too torn before he trained more. He skipped school from time to time, pretending to have a fever whenever everyone was out of the house or when there only were his grandparents at home, just to be able to sneak into the secret room and examine the gadgets, learn how they worked and replicate them. Daichi was pretty sure that both his grandparents knew what he was doing as he'd seen them whisper and then look at him proudly; they loved it whenever he disobeyed his father, and the teenager was certain that it had something to do with what his family referred to as his father's 'small, childish trouble' that he'd had when he was in his teens and took down the Black Organization.

I wasn't until a month later that he had perfected both his movements and the usage of gadgets, but he still had one great disadvantage; experience. His father had been a thief for over twenty years while Daichi only had learnt how to walk without tripping over his feet. He would never accept help from his grandparents, but like a saint from above Mizuki caught him just as he was trying on a new set of clothes, since the other pair was too torn to use on a heist.

"Dai, is it yo-," his sister hadn't knocked or anything; she just opened the door and froze.  
"Miz!" Daichi spun around and flailed with his arms, dressed as Kaitou KID, "don't hit me!" For a while they just stood there staring at each other before the magician spoke up again, "by the way; don't you know how to knock? What if I was changing? Or was naked?"  
"Idiot, then you should lock your door," Mizuki glared at her brother.  
"That's it! I'm going to start walking around naked in my room! Closed door means; don't come in without knocking! Open door means; come in, I'd like some company," Daichi grinned, "or would you like it if I came storming in to your room? Since locked door means; I'm doing something super secret and you should totally pick the lock and surprise me!"

"Okay, fine. I agree to your terms of door-rules. Open; come in. Closed and locked; knock until response received," Mizuki folded her arms over her chest and eyed his clothes, "now what the hell are you doing dressed like that in _the_ _middle_ of the day?"  
"I was just testing out the outfit," Daichi grinned and eyed her challengingly, "I'm going to wear it on the heist next week. I've finished my heist note and will send it in a few days."  
"Oh, so you haven't read the news today?" she smirked and unfolded the paper she'd been hiding under her arm.  
"Kaitou KID will strike tomorrow at nine!" the headline read and he grinned.

"I'm going to go to that!" Daichi grinned and stole the paper, immediately opening in on the right page and read the heist note.  
"They think it's a fake, but everyone knows that Kaitou KID shows up and catches his impostors, speaks with them and then either saves them or hands them to the police," Mizuki grinned, "and I want to see dad in action! I was a bit disappointed that he works as both a detective and a thief, but we're talking about the infamous Kaitou KID! He who eludes _all _detectives, a mastermind who doesn't let anyone get hurt during his heists! A true master!" Mizuki giggled, "I can't believe that dad is actually Kaitou KID!"  
"I thought you were going to despise dad for being KID," Daichi remarked, "he's a thief, and you're a detective."  
"Oh, come on! It's dad we're talking about! How could I hate him? And Kaitou KID isn't exactly dangerous or that bad," she sighed, "but if you're going to send out a heist note to next week, then I'm coming too!"

"Aw, but Miz! You have no idea how hard it is to move around dressed like this! And you can't change your voice so he'll recognize you!"  
"What? Me going as KID? Are you fifty shades of stupid? I'm going to go as Phantom Lady! And I _can_ change my voice! Not to talk about all that weird stuff in the secret room. According to Ojiichan dad has a voice-changing facemask that I could use dressed as Phantom Lady!"  
"Wait! You spoke with them?!" Daichi squeaked, "about everything?"

"No, of course not about everything, but I did question them about it. I asked about everything except dad's boyfriend and the recordings. Chikage-obaachan was thrilled and asked if I wanted to become the next Phantom Lady, and I said yes. I've been training with her and Ojiichan since the day after we found the room." Daichi gaped at his sisters revelation.  
"That is so unfair! I trained all by myself!"  
"I know. Ojiichan told me that you've been sneaking out during the nights, and he's been watching you; that was why I was so surprised to see you dressed as KID now, and I came to ask if this heist note was yours." Daichi grinned and changed in a puff of smoke.  
"Come on, let's pester dad to follow us to the heist," he chuckled, "and let's not give up until he agrees to take us to see it!"  
"Just don't let him know that we know."

* * *

Shinichi smiled down at the crowds that had gathered, shouting his name into the sky as they waited for the phantom to reappear; the crowd was even larger than before, and somewhere among the masses his children were looking up towards the sky. One excited Daichi together with one slightly annoyed Mizuki that had been dragged there by him, not that Shinichi knew that it was all an act. The detective smiled; he'd almost been unable to lose them among the people, but in the end he'd managed to get away. He looked out over the rooftops, using the night vision to see if there really was an impostor this time. The last two times there had been one, who promised to not do it again after their talk so there was no need to turn him in to the police. The man had only wanted to keep Kaitou KID alive, which was what Shinichi wanted, and he could feel the wish for becoming the thief again was pulling in him.

He'd voiced his wish to Ran, since neither of them had any secrets from each other, and she'd looked at him with a heartbroken look, asking if their entire life was a lie, if he didn't love her. Shinichi had assured her that he did love her, but he still missed Kaito and being KID. It really was unfair of her to use their relationship to get him to stay at home. He really disliked every statement that began with; 'If you really loved me you would...' since it was unfair. It wasn't like Shinichi told Ran; 'if you really loved me you would let me do it'. Shinichi would never use her love for him against her like that. He would dream of the thief and sneak out from their bedroom to cry. After one of those horrible dreams of happiness with the thief he'd feel as if he'd lost him again once he woke up and remembered everything. Shinichi still loved Ran and his children, but he was constantly tortured by his reoccurring dreams and his feelings for the thief that just wouldn't die, no matter what he did to forget. The moment he'd spend with his family around the breakfast table would then fill him with as much shame that he'd feel nauseous from the fact that he couldn't move on, and he wouldn't be able to look them in their eyes if it wasn't for his poker face.

Shinichi smirked as he watched a dark-clad person enter the building through a window only to pull off his protection as he got inside, showing that he had the white Kaitou KID outfit underneath. The detective waited patiently as the time came and then observed how all the lights went out in the building followed by what must've been flash bombs inside the target's room. The crowds roared as they saw the light and hoped that the 'original' was back.

He felt the anticipation grow and he quickly prepared himself by placing what seemed like a large bazooka on his shoulder. The impostor crashed a window on the floor above and Shinichi fired. The projectile almost reached its target before it opened up and trapped the impostor in a net. There was a puff of pink smoke around Shinichi's target and he activated the balloon, making his captive shoot up into the night sky and then used a remote control to steer the balloon with the sleeping person to him. The crowds roared higher, calling out for the real KID's appearance and to make him begin stealing again.

Shinichi waited another minute, until the impostor woke up and then grinned at the man in his mid-twenties.  
"Good morning," he beamed, "slept well?"  
"KID-sama?" the man stared at him and then nestled his way out from underneath the net with as much dignity as he could. "Please take me as your apprentice!" he bowed and clasped his hands together, but Shinichi only shook his head.  
"I'm sorry I can't do that. When I'm dead I can't do anything to stop a new KID from taking the stage, but until then I'll do my best to stop everyone from becoming a criminal," the detective explained.  
"Why won't you take an apprentice? You're the best magician in the world! You can't let all secrets die with you!"  
"As a magician I have an apprentice and my teachings will live on, but the art of stealing is very corrupting. What would you do if you could steal money from a bank without anyone knowing of it?"  
"I would never steal like that. What I want is to give the world a bit of magic and mystery; the good kind."  
"Yes, indeed," Shinichi chuckled, "firstly; it's very dangerous because humans are greedy by nature. If you can steal without getting caught your nature dictates that you will, and it's very hard to resist. Secondly; there are a lot of criminals out there that want to get their hands on someone who can do their bidding as well as Kaitou KID, so the answer to an apprentice is no and will always be that."

"I understand," the impostor sighed and bowed his head, "I completely understand and I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused you."  
"No worries," Shinichi laughed, "I miss doing this, so every time an impostor shows up I'm happy."  
"Why did you retire?"  
"Technically I'm not retired, but family has taken up a lot of time, and being KID exposes them to danger so it's wrong to do this," the man in white explained, but left out that being a famous detective left his family even more vulnerable in case a criminal decided to retaliate against him since his name was known.  
"I understand," the man nodded, "but what about that large heist you had thirteen years ago? Wasn't that supposed to be the last heist?"

"It was the last before I took a long break, but one day I might be back," Shinichi grinned happily.  
"You're not the first KID, are you? If you have a family now and the way you move..."  
"No, I'm the third-,"  
"But why won't you take an apprentice if you were once an apprentice?" the man asked in an upset voice and stared at the white-clad man in bewilderment.  
"Being Kaitou KID _had_ its purpose, because the first one protected someone he loved. He was murdered in cold blood; an act that claimed multiple innocent lives around him, ranging from small children to adults. They were burnt alive. The second KID was his son and when he was murdered by his father's murderers I took over, making it look like they had failed so today I carry the monocle and mantle to honour them. He was someone dear to me and they murdered him, so tell me; with that history, are you still willing to put your family in harm's way for a bit of fun?" Shinichi asked in a calm voice and watched the man's pale face.

"They all died?"  
"Yes, they also forced my friend to watch his own mother be murdered even though she had nothing to do with it. It was a slow, painful death and he was forced to listen to her cries in agony," Shinichi lied and shook his head, "I can't even imagine how horrible it must've been to him."  
"I'm so sorry," the man said and stared at the thief, "I didn't know. I just thought-."  
"I know; you thought what everyone else thinks, and it's okay," Shinichi grinned towards the crowds, "go home to your wife. Give her a kiss and remember that behind the monocle and white clothes there is a very dark, tainted history and a heavy burden to be carried. Remember who it is that you put in danger if you ever do something like this. Now if you excuse me, I've decided to make this time a bit special." Just as he finished fireworks exploded in the air and created a gigantic KID-doodle. Shinichi grinned and jumped off the roof; heading back to return the jewel with as much commotion as possible.

* * *

Daichi was prepared for what was to come. His sister was helping out behind the scenes and his grandfather was there to watch over him in case he was caught and handed to the police if his father failed in recognizing him. The teenager scanned the rooftops for his current enemy from his position underneath a large balloon, unable to find him anywhere. When it was ten minutes until it all began he quickly dropped down to the roof and entered an air vent; he was going to use the old 'show up in a puff of smoke'-trick and he made his way down a few floors until he reached the heist room where he waited for the correct time.

He appeared in a puff of smoke and glitter, grinning at the officers.  
"Ladies and Gentlemen!" he called out, changing his voice to sound more like his father's, and threw his arms out while sounding ridiculously happy, "how are you doing this fine evening?"  
"Get him whether he's a fake or not!" a woman called out and Daichi smirked as he glanced over the crowd, seeing Norio's mother point to him.  
"Milady," the teenager bowed as the officers threw themselves at him, but ended up in a pile without the thief in it as he jumped. With a swift movement he ended up behind the woman and wrapped her in his mantle. "How about clothes more fitting for such a fine lady?" he asked with a grin and Aoko answered with a low growl, but before she'd had the time to have an outburst of violent rage the mantle disappeared and showed a woman in a beautiful evening dress. Daichi avoided the baton that was swung at him and then ran, hoping that the woman wasn't as good as his own mother.

Without getting caught he got to the roof and then smirked at the helicopters that circled the building, alighting him for the entire world to see.  
"KID, you are surrounded," the police helicopter's speakers blared loudly and Daichi sent a glance up to the reporters on an adjacent building, knowing that _now_ was when his father would strike, "surrender quietly."  
"Ladies and Gentlemen!" the teenager called out in his father's KID-voice that echoed between the buildings, intensified by the speakers he'd put up the day before and threw his arms out, "would you really want this humble thief to surrender quietly?"

Daichi smirked as the audience roared an astoundingly high 'no' that made him smile confidently.  
"Then I must decline the police's kind offer!" he smiled and snapped his fingers, making the police helicopters turn into a glowing pink colour in a puff of smoke while looking around for his father. The elder thief's absence was starting to make him nervous, but that didn't show on his face.

"Interesting," a second voice echoed through the night and the crowds quieted down, expectantly watching the white-clad thief on top of the building while Daichi smirked; it was finally beginning, "I must say that you are surprisingly good at pretending to be me."  
"It's not that hard," the teenager fought to not grin as he pulled down the brim of his hat, quickly sending the roof around him suspicious glances without moving, "simply being an exceptional magician is enough to replicate you, as long as one can think ahead."  
"So it seems, but the question remains; are you better than me?" the corners of the roof was engulfed in smoke and on each angle a white-clad thief showed up once the smoke cleared.  
"That is a very interesting question," Daichi stated calmly and pulled the mantle to his front so that it covered what he was doing, "how about a bet; if I can beat you, you have to let me take over after you since your reign as Kaitou KID is nearing an end. However, if you manages to beat me I'll step down, for a while."  
"You are much younger than you seem, aren't you?" his father smirked, "so, shall we dance, my dear Kaitou-san?"

All four of the thieves that appeared in the corners started moving, but neither moved right. They seemed to be there on moment and was then gone the next, only to reappear closer to him. Daichi fired the card gun at them, but they avoided every single card. The teenager brought his hand up over his head and snapped his fingers, making himself vanish in an explosion of light while the entire roof became filled with ropes, catching three of his fathers and let him know that the last must be the real one.

Daichi pulled up a smoke bomb and made it explode by gripping harder into it and at the same time pulled away the dark protection that hid him from the audience, making him appear to be standing on thin air, above the crowds, but he was actually standing on a line, keeping his balance as the wind blew. The KID that was left in the roof smirked at his impostor's wish to show off, but saw how he'd done it and shot a card to sever the line. As it was cut Daichi's confident smirk widened since he was still standing on the exact same spot.  
"Aw, you cut my line," the youngster complained, "too bad I'm falling right now." Daichi couldn't see how his father's eyes moved, but he was certain that he was looking around the open space to see the trick, and the boy knew that he would figure it out.

"I guess that I'll see you around," he grinned as he looked up to the helicopters and dropped a strong flash bomb while he shot cards to cut the lines he was standing on. While everyone was blinded he by the bomb he shot the grappling hook up to the balloon that waited for him. The thief pulled the black cover over himself and then heard his father laugh.

"Very good, very good indeed, but not good enough," the real thief grinned and then pointed his card gun to the balloon and fired. Daichi dropped from it before the card even hit, not interested in getting pulled along to crashing with it. The teenager unfolded the glider and then circled the roof before he landed, abandoning the balloon that was quickly leaving the scene.

"If that had worked, I'd been disappointed," Daichi commented amused as his father eyed him and he silently wondered if the man recognized him.  
"Well, we can have that, and I'd love to see what other kind of tricks you have up your sleeves," his father said with a dangerous undertone and made a run for him. Daichi smirked and fell back over the edge of the roof, releasing the glider as he fell, but as he looked up to the roof he saw a card imbed into the frame of the glider and made him fall as the fabric ripped in half. Daichi reacted fast, but was surprised by his father's act. The grappling hook attached to a flagpole and he was quickly standing on the ground, surrounded by the barricade and the taskforce members that were keeping people out. He threw a smoke bomb and vanished by disguising as another officer, mixing in among the chaos.

For a second everything stopped as everyone looked around for the white-clad thief, but then a cloud of smoke appeared and then revealed the elder thief.  
"Good quick change, Kaitou-san, but my patience is growing thin. I'm not as patient as I once was."  
"Then maybe we should finish this," Daichi grinned and got surprised looks from the officers that stood on both of his sides. The teenager snapped his fingers and his father became engulfed in smoke only to reveal him on the ground struggling against the ropes.

"That was a simple trick," Daichi commented and watched his father get up on his knees, hiding his face from the crowds by tilting his head down, "the simpler they are the easier you seem to fall for them." The teenager walked up to the thief with a smirk, keeping an eye on the taskforce that were surrounding them.  
"Maybe so," the restrained thief chuckled and Daichi glowered suspiciously at him as he turned his head revealing a puppet's face. The teenager jumped back, but in a cloud of smoke Daichi was caught and restrained. "But you can't see the difference between a human and a doll," his father smirked as he appeared in a puff of smoke.  
"Nakamori-keibu and my lovely taskforce, I suggest that you stay back while I deal with this one," the thief smiled and made a few of the officers vanish to nowhere with a snap of his fingers.

"How should I deal with you now?" Shinichi asked himself and frowned a bit as he tilted his head.  
"You could release me, and I could beat you next time," Daichi grinned, but his father only laughed.  
"Oh my, do you know what?" he grinned amused and then shook his head as he placed his hands on his hips, "you are so _grounded_." The entire crowd froze at the thief's words and Daichi blinked. "What? You didn't think that I wouldn't recognize my own son, did you?"  
"That's not fair!" Daichi complained, "I'm older than you were when you started!"  
"And, you are revealing information that we don't want the police to hear," Shinichi grinned, "how long have you known about me?"  
"Two months?"  
"And it took you less than two months to decide to become a criminal?"  
"Yes, but it actually took Mi-, me a week."  
"We'll talk about this at home,"  
"Does that mean that I can continue?"  
"No, it means that this conversation won't be for public viewing."  
"Hah! Like you can stop me!" Daichi grinned as he managed to pull out his card gun.  
"I wouldn't-," Shinichi began, but the teenager had already fired and struck the line keeping him to the ground, making him shot into the sky with a yell of surprise, "do that." The thief watched his son disappear into the night and shook his head with a small smile as he watched three small triangles head three different directions.

"Well, good evening then," Shinichi bowed and threw the diamond he'd stolen from his son to the the old inspector.  
"KID, wait!" Aoko called out and fixed him with a firm gaze, "during all the times I could've asked, but didn't dare in fear of the answer. Where was my friend killed?" Nakamori blinked confused at the question from his daughter to the thief, "you know everything about everyone here. Please, I need to know. Where was he killed?"  
"Knowing that might change how you look at the place," Shinichi stated quietly, showing the serious side of Kaitou KID.  
"Tell me anyway,"  
"You might not remember it, but one day when you got there; there was a small hole in the wall, a hole from a bullet. You complained over it, wondering why anyone would make a hole in the wall."  
"What?" Aoko asked stunned, "just tell me and stop telling such cryptic things! There's no way that I could ever remember what annoyed me over twenty years ago!"  
"Really?" Shinichi tilted his head, "I remember everything that happened twenty years ago, as if it was yesterday, but to answer your question; Ekoda High, inside your classroom, just because they wanted to destroy everything dear to him. Farewell, Aoko-chan, I like the dress." In a flash of light Shinichi disappeared and then made his way through the crowds, heading to what he knew would become an interesting argument at home.

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**Answer to guest review; Vacant Balcony**  
Hahaha! Thank you, I'm happy that you say that. I never actually considered it to be beautiful!


	6. As History Repeats Itself

A/N; Brace yourself! We begin with a time jump!  
Hope you'll enjoy the ending! And Merry Christmas! ;) -Sure it's still a few days left, but this is the last chapter!

Warnings;  
Strange english, OOCness

Chapter Genre; Drama, Sci-fi, Humour  
Uploaded; 2012-12-23  
Chapter rating: K+  
Words: 3,200

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**Chap. 6  
As History Repeats Itself **

A teenager with black hair sighed heavily as he made his way to his father's office, hoping that the man wasn't going to teach him something stupid, like more non-technological mind-tricks that he _already_ _knew,_ seriously, couldn't the man come up with something new? As a child Sai had been frowned upon for not using technology 'the way it was supposed to be used', all because his father really loved to explore the possibilities and the young man had inherited that trait, which was how he ended up using technology for making furniture to producing energy; it wasn't very energy-effective, but it had been fun to change and he was making it better. His father had been excited once he got it working and had proudly stated that once he got to know all the secrets and was tested he would be named as the successor of the Kudou Corporation of Science and Technology, but first he would be in charge of the Kudou Industry and Development, making sure that he could see the possibilities of every piece of machinery that went into their products.

Sai was both excited and terrified at the same time; excited over the fact that his father saw him as good enough to even be considered to take over and terrified that he might prove to be a disappointment in the end. Neither of his two elder brothers were interested in taking over since they had both gone into two completely different areas. Diego had become a chef, specialising in both nutritious food and fillers. He loved making fillers since people could eat them without them actually containing anything. Diego also had a company, own by the Kudou Corp. but that still had its own agenda, since their father only came with help if they really needed it, but Diego was both a perfect businessman and a marvellous chef, which was how Kudou Corp. became the owner of the best brand of dieting food.

The teenager stopped outside the office and stared at the opener to the right of the door shining in a weak blue light. He felt like he was under a lot of pressure as both Diego and Yana were already successful while he was still digging around for discarded technology and playing with it, sure the both of them were five and ten years older than him, but he still felt bad. Even his older sister had a successful carrier outside of the company, which meant that he was the black cheep in the family, given that he had done nothing but invented useless gadgets and had fun with learning his father's mind-tricks, which his father for some reason called magic, even though everyone knew that there was no such thing as magic.

Yana was a medical engineer and scientist inside another department, not interested in any administering work; he just wanted to create and find new medicines while using a special kind of robots, called nanbos, which his grandfather had invented.

Sai touched the blue orb and watched the door withdraw into the wall. The young man entered the circular office and looked around in surprise; it was empty, and only a small information disk was lying on the table. With a quiet sigh the teenager walked up to the table and stared down on the disk, knowing that it was likely for him, but he wasn't completely certain; it could've been left for his father. Touching the edge of the object made it activate and show a small holographic projection of his father.

"_Sai!"_ his father's holographic image smiled, _"you have exceeded my expectations in every way, and that's not a small feat, but there is one last challenge for you. Don't feel bad if you fail it, none of your siblings managed to complete it, but they didn't have your mind. In the mansion of old you will find the secret of life. A great challenge and an even greater past; all for you to take part in, if you succeeds in finding and understanding it..."_

The teenager looked around the office, wondering if his father was somehow watching him, or trying to pull some kind of prank on him.  
"The mansion of old, huh?" he muttered as he left the office to get to the transporter, "what could possibly be there?"

The mansion of old wasn't just a place anyone could go; it was an antiquated building that had been passed down his family and Sai had only been there a few times, astounded that the place was still standing, not that it would without the help of modern technology. The government had multiple times tried to get the house into the hands of others, trying to preserve it, but his father would have none of that, and since his father didn't consent to letting others preserve it, the house had stayed in their care.

The transport to the relic took over an hour since he first had to get to the main lobby and then wait for a while to get to one of the gate stations so that he could transport to Tokyo, after which he was forced to walk the rest of the way, since his father refused to put a transport near the house for some reason. Sai walked into the old, abandoned building and looked around, finding nothing interesting other than protected objects coming from every time period, making the house look more like a museum than an actual home.

After his search Sai sat down in an old armchair in a large oval room, with walls covered in bookcases, tapping his fingers against the old material while he wondered what his father wanted him to find.  
"Of all my siblings I should be able to find it?" Sai mumbled to himself and then snorted in thought at the idea; he didn't have anything to boast about. He wasn't good at anything.  
"What differs between me and Yana?" the teenager asked the room and pursed his lips, "I'm interested in taking over the company, Yana's not. Yana has a skill, I have not. I'm only good at picking things apart to see at what they look like on the inside, while Yana can make new stuff up." Sai clicked his tongue and looked around; he'd tried hard to become good at developing technology, but he didn't really have that extra instinct that made the development good and successful, it only turned out fun and a bit useless.

"Yana didn't find it; the secret. Then, what about Diego. He can cook, I can't. It has something to do with the mind; the way we look at things? Yana would've examined the relics inside. Diego would've searched the kitchen first to see how they made dinner in the old days. They would've searched the cupboards and the technology, but that's not it; a secret wouldn't be out in the open, or it could, just to mess with people. What about Samantha?" Sai got up from the armchair and took another look, "Sammie-Sam, what did you look at? The pictures? A secret hidden in plain sight in the background of a photo?" Sai tilted his head, "oh, that's good; it's certainly unexpected, and not a place where people would look." The teenager took up an old communication device from a shelf and looked at it before he placed it back, "but I would never be able to go through _all_ the photos in this house. It would take more than a lifetime, so the question is; what would I look at that my siblings wouldn't? Not the kitchen, not the bedrooms, not the yard... Or maybe the yard, it had a pretty interesting design. Design, I like design. I want to know how things are designed, not only on the outside, but also on the inside. I already am on the inside."

Sai began walking in a circle muttering for himself. "What differs me from them; I am unsuccessful, likes designs and are really good with mind-tricks, stupid, unnecessary mind-tricks. No, that's not helping. Go around it another way. A secret, hidden in a house where technology doesn't even work. Where is the secret? What kind of secret? 'The secret of life. A great challenge and a great past.' A great past could be shown in pictures, but I hate looking at pictures; that's the last thing I would ever do. So this house harbours a great challenge and a great past?" The teenager released his breath in a sigh.

"What would that even look like? How do you hide something in a place where you can't make it invisible? Or use illusions?" he opened the drawer of an old desk and looked inside to find it empty, "you hide it in a box or behind something. Pfft, like the others wouldn't have found it if that was the case? Now, stop, this leads nowhere; I need a new perspective," Sai fell to his back on the floor and stared up at the glass ceiling for a while.

"How would I hide something without technology?" he asked himself with a frown and narrowed his eyes, "dad, you moron, you hid it with some kind of mind-trick, didn't you?" The teenager got up from the floor and looked around again.  
"Where did you put something that looks like it is something but it really isn't?" Sai walked around the house for hours, checking in the back of empty cupboards, making sure that they actually were empty, and did the same to both drawers, chests and mirrors, slowly and methodically until he hit jackpot.

In one of the bedrooms he had accidently pulled out a handle from the wall; a handle which was supposed to control the grill in the fireplace, but once he put it in again the floor opened in front of the fireplace, revealing a couple of stairs down.  
"A floor, that's not a floor," Sai muttered and looked into the darkness, "no one will find my body if I don't get out of there alive." Intrigued he walked down and then watched all the light disappear as the floor closed above him. He moved slowly through the narrow corridor, using the light from the chemical mixture in his neclace to show him the way and wondered where he was and how he could've missed the pathways until he saw two small holes in the wall. Looking through them he realised that he was staring into the kitchen. "I'm in the wall? I'm actually on the inside of the inside! What's wrong with this place?" he muttered, "floors aren't floors, walls aren't walls; no wonder dad loves his place."

Sai continued on his expedition and then ended in a dead-end. Touching a leaver made him frown and pull it down, hearing a quiet rattling that made the dead-end smaller and he realised that he the wall was moving towards him. The wall stopped just before he was about to run away and then retracted to his right, letting light in and showing that he was in the library again.

After another hour of searching the house he found the fourth pathway in the library and walked down the stairs. He entered the room at the bottom and saw a strange room, combined with both old technology and new cutting edge ones. Seeing a portal on the floor in the corner made him frown.

'Time,' he thought and the eyepiece activated, showing him that he would soon need to return despite the fact that no technology was supposed to be functioning inside the house, trying out his theory he stepped back into the corridor and watched the time turn into static, until he went into the room again. The teenager walked into the portal and pressed the wrist bracelet seeing that the gate only had one other destination. After choosing it he found himself in what appeared to be a gigantic laboratory, and he immediately recognized the strange hybrid-technology that the internationally wanted criminal Kaitou KID used. Sai gaped and decided to look around before he made his way back, finding a computer interface. Placing his hand on it made it activate and show him a virtual screen.

"_Welcome, heir of the Kaitou KID blood line,"_ the computer stated and Sai frowned.  
"I'm not of the Kaitou KID blood line. I'm of the Kudou blood line," the teenager stated as he removed his hand watching his own family tree appear before him.  
"_For generations the Kudou's have been everything from scientists, teachers and police officers to bus drivers, shop owners and politicians,"_ the computer informed him, "_every generation of the Kudou blood line has kept the illustrious Kaitou KID alive. DNA-scans show that you are Kudou Sai and therefore will take over after Kudou Bishamon. Shall I play the recording for you?"_

"What recording?" Sai asked in disbelief, staring at his family tree, seeing how pictures of Kaitou KID and his different, yet similar outfits showed up beside each and every picture, followed by the gadgets that were associated with just that thief.  
_"The recording of Kudou Bishamon. Every new Kaitou KID has made a new addition throughout history. Recording either a statement or made a few notations about the world in honour of the ancestor. Every message can be viewed either in the original voice or as translated by me."_

"Play my father's original message," Sai demanded and saw a young man take shape in front of himself; a young version of his father he could tell.  
"My name is Kudou Bishamon, son of Kudou Ebisu and Dianna. I will carry the Legacy of the Phantom Thief with honour in my heart. I will teach the world the beauty of magic and the value of honesty, for there is only one rule; No one gets hurt," his father grinned happily and turned to look at something that was outside of the recorded field.

"Play the original message of Kudou Ebisu," Sai commanded intrigued, seeing his father change into who he had to assume was his grandfather; a young man with a much more serious look.

"My name is Kudou Ebisu, son of Kudou Hiroshi and Reiko, and I will carry the Legacy of the Phantom Thief," the young man stated before he flickered and became a lot older, letting Sai know that it was a second recording. "I have found the most wonderful woman, a fan of Kaitou KID, but still understanding. Her name is Carter Dianna," Sai's grandfather reached out his arm and a woman came into the picture, smiling happily at the computer, "we're having a child!" The couple laughed and Sai blinked as they vanished with the end of the message.

"How many messages are there in general?"  
_"It differs greatly. The ancestor made his recordings for his partner, since he knew that he was going to be murdered. The time during the third world war was also a period when a lot of messages were saved, most of the progress of the war, the propaganda and the corruption amongst the leaders."_  
"Why did the first KID start stealing?"  
_"Unknown,"_  
"Who was the first Kaitou KID?"  
_"The father of the ancestor; Kuroba Toichi."_  
"Wait, you said Kuroba. Who was the first Kudou and why did he or she begin?" Sai asked confused.  
_"The first Kudou was Kudou Shinichi, a detective, son of Kudou Yuusaku and Yukiko. Lover of Kuroba Kaito; the son of Kuroba Toichi and Chikage. After Kuroba Kaito's death he started stealing to scare his lover's murderers into believing that he was still alive."_  
"That makes sense in a bit of a messed up way," Sai sighed, "but why didn't it stop with him?"  
_"Kudou Yuusaku convinced Kudou Daichi and Mizuki, son and daughter of Kudou Shinichi and Ran, to continue. Daichi is the first Kudou to ever use the phrasing 'carrying the Legacy of the Phantom Thief' as his statement. He is also the first to begin making recordings for the sole purpose to keeping a history of Kaitou KID and telling what it means. He ends his explanation of why Kaitou KID exists with the phrasing that was continued to be used by every KID ever since. The only information about the first KID comes from Daichi and Mizuki."_

"Ooh? Is that so?" Sai commented, "has there ever been a female Kaitou KID?"  
_"Affirmative,"_  
"Sweet, which generation would I become?"  
_"You would be the 50th Kaitou KID,"_  
"Okay, let me hear the messages from the very beginning, translate when needed," Sai smiled; this would become interesting, hearing history as if it happened in front of him, and he would probably need to come back many times, and he really needed to have a serious talk with his dad; how could he expect him to become a slightly insane thief?

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Daichi grinned towards his smiling father, happy that he was allowed to buy a new recorder and begin telling his story with the older thief shaking his head at his vivid explaining of everything Kaitou KID related. Mizuki sat beside her father, trying to keep herself from snickering at her brother's enthusiasm, happy that her father hadn't gotten angry by the fact that they had listened to the recordings and happy that their mother had forgiven him for bringing up two thieves.

"My name is Kudou Daichi, son of Kudou Shinichi and Ran, and I will carry the Legacy of the Phantom Thief with honour," Daichi said in a serious tone and smiled as he stopped recording.  
"Let me guess," Shinichi began with an amused smile, "that legacy speech was dad's idea, wasn't it?"  
"Maybe," Dichi winked and threw his arms up, "I confess to nothing!" The teenager threw the recorder to his sister that caught it with ease. "It's your turn Miz, say the sacred words!"  
"What?" she smiled and threw a glance to her father, "could we lock him up? He's thinking that this is way to fun to be healthy."  
"Hmm, I agree," Shinichi smiled while Daichi gaped theatrically and placed a hand over his heart, "but stealing really is unhealthily amusing."  
"Come on, Miz, you have to say the same thing!" Daichi put his hands together, begging.  
"Why?" she asked curiously.  
"Because it has to be a _thing_! A great _thing_! And whoever becomes KID after us has to say it too. Just think about it; in a hundred years, or even thousands of years someone will hear those tapes! It will be amazing!"  
"Yea, right," Mizuki snorted, "Kaitou KID won't survive more than a few generations." The teenager pressed the button to the recorder, "My name is Kudou Mizuki. I will carry the Legacy of the Phantom Thief. I will be Phantom Lady." The girl stopped the recording and smiled while Daichi took the recorder back, silently promising to protect it and the material on it. "There's no way that that recording will survive longer than to our grandchildren."

Oh, if she only knew. If Kaito only knew what kind of inheritance he left after himself. The Legacy of the Phantom Thief, surviving throughout the times. The idea of a gentleman in a hat and mantle, stealing and returning for the sake of bringing happiness and wonder to the world; a non-violent criminal, and an idea that never died.

Fin.

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A/N; Languages changes so it's highly improbable that someone today would understand a message told a thousand years ago.

Did you see;  
Kudou Industry and Development - KID

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**Answer to guest review; Vacant Balcony**  
Aah, it was KaiShin in the beginning and then became RanShin in the end, mainly because it bugs me whenever Shinichi gets pregnant: Do you know how hostile environment the colon is? Sorry, no I don't have any imagination XD  
Hmm... Maybe this chapter was a bit of a disappointment since you didn't get to know how the murder happened or how Daichi convinced Ran to be allowed to continue :S

**Answer to guest review; Vacant Balcony** **on chap. 6** -If you ever see this ;)  
Thank you, I'm happy that you don't see it as nonsense! (and I always accept compliments XD)  
Naah, I woke up early because the heating in the house had stopped sometime during the night and my room was cold, so I'm sorry if I came off as annoyed ^^'  
It's still cold and the windows still have some frost on them...  
Hahaha! Thank you! And love the name you have!


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